Bascule-bridge.



Patented Sept. 25, 1917.

6' SHEETS-SHEET l..

`Imscuu ananas; APPLICATIIJH FILED '40h15, 15H5.

c. H. MERCER @0.14. woEHLE.

M m W l el@ Patented sept. 25,1917.

SHEETS-SHEET 2- C. H. MERCER & C. H. WUEHLE.

BASCULE BRIDGE.

APPLlcATmN FILED Nov.15, |915.

C. H. MERCER & C. H. WOEHLE.

BASCULE BRIDGf. APPLICATION min Nov. l5, |515.

PatentedSpt. 25, 1917.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3 bmx,

C. H. MERCER 6L C. H. WOEHLE.

BASCULE BRIDGE.

APPLICATION man nov. :5, 19:5.

l ,241 ,237. Patented Sept. 25, 1917.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

C. H. MERCER 6L C. H. WOEHLE.

BASCULE BRIDGE. APPLzcATloN min Nov. x5. 1915.

Pmmmr Sept. 22:3, 15H?.

b SHFFYSVA SMLI' C. I'I. MERCER 6L C. H. WUEHLE. BASCULE BRIDGE.

APPLICATION FILED NDV. I5\ |915.

Patented Sept. 25, 1917.

UNITED snifrnwsmh lATENT OFFICE.

GHABLES H. MERCER, 0F STEELTON, AND CHARLES H. WOEHLE, 0F PAXTANG,

PENNSYLVANIA.

BASCULE-BBIDGE.

Specification o! Letters Patent.

Patented sept. e5, 1917.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it knowinthat we, CHARLES H. Mimosa and CHAnLns H. WonHLnfboth citizens of the United States, and residing, respectively at Steelton ,and Pextong, in the countv of Dauphin and State of Pennsylvania, United States of America.,- have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bascule- Bridges; and. we do hereby' declare the following to be o full, clear, end'exact desoription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it epperteins to make and use the same, reference being' had to the accompanying drawing.' and to letters or Figures of reference maiilied thereon, which. form a part of this specification.

'Our invention relates to a. type of bridges known as bascule bridges, and particulorly to a type o'f bascule bridge consisting of two leaves x'neeting et or near the middle of the channel and revolubly mounted or trunnioned .at the. sides of the et innel to operate in a, vertical plane and counterbelanced to so operate when clearing the chonnel or opening the bridge for any reason.

Our object is to provide for the expansion' or contraction of the length of the Whole bridge, while the leaves are locked together, by temperature conditions; also 'for iposi tloning o. leaf of thi'L bridge by ineens w 1ereby the Whole leaf may be held, or moved erxdwise, as may be necessary to bring the chf nnel end into desired and prop-ex.' relationtoqthe, proximate end of the other leaf of the bridge, notwithstanding variation in the length of the leaves by reason of changes of temperature, or otherwise.

Also'to provide for lockingr together the adjacent -ends civ the leaves by means of drawing together and locking the bottom chords or top chords of the leaves, or both, the mechanism therefor being prefembly power-operated. Also to provide menos whereby -one leef must be lifted before the other loof con be raised, including means for changing; the order of lifting. y

fFigijure 1 is afside elevation of somewhat more than. one-half of o, bascule bridge embodying, our invention.

Fig?? is n 'plan of the floor system lin same. on plone' IlA-I ofFig. l.

Fig. 3 is e side elevutionof a portion of the movable .tower structure ccrrving trunnlons on whlch'the heel of the leaf pivots.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on line 4 4` of Fig. 3.

Fig.l 5 is a plan of cylinders the tower and piping.

Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the cylinders and pipe connections to pump.

Fig. 7 is a plan View, partly in section, of the locking mechanism for a pair of lower chords.

Fig. 8 is an elevation of the adjacent ends of side trusses, looking from the outside of the bridge and showing the ends of the top and bottom chords of the trusses and the mechanism for locking the top chords.

8* is a. detail view of a, shaft.

Figs. 9 and 10 are side and end elevations, partly in section, of the'power mechanism for working the locking mechanism.

Fig. l11 is a plan of the top chord ends and locking devices.

Figs. 12 `and 13 are detail views of the lower chord locking;r bars, and

Figs. 14 and 15 are sections on the lines 14m-14 and 15--15 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 16 is o perspective ViewV of one of the abutting upper chord castings. l

We have illustrated our invention in connection with a single track bascule bridgeA formed of two sections. called leones tilt in? down to meet et the middlel of the chenne thus forming a. continuous span across the waterway. achdcaf is composed of two similar side trusses connected by tra..svcrse girders carrying four lines of stringcrs for moving on which the track lsind its appurtenances are secured.

The shore end or heel ofreuch 'side truss is provided with trimnionfhearings -72 ln;

which the leef is pivoted. and supported, above the shore pier, on a towel' structure on which nre also mounted the devices .for colmterbaloncing the weight of the leaves, none of which forms nrt of this invention, (al,- though nec-esseri y shown in part inFi. 1l. As the bridge has been designed, the eedload of each half of the bridge is counterweighted. to eqlrilibrimn,l bascule b rid gli@ for dond; t load vial v ,.psrha y i' I so thence in other` I i alone there' j ere nostressesfrom one lecito the other,

2. i At the center of vth ridge, andfforui ping mlrttfiisnii we have illustrated as mounted. loads, the stresses 1h the trussgsikl. s in`iaJ between *he side plates ofthe door atrio simple spun of length equal to the distance between the trunnioiis on o :i Josite )iers b Il l reuson'of theteiision locks rigidly connecting the bottom chords and the compression )hints `in `the 'top chords.

` ii'Ihus when the heels of such biisrule bridges are. iniiiioviibly pivoted, and the bridge is elosed, with thc leaves locked tolist-tire effect serious changes in tl'ieitotel f ijn? the ibrid" producing'.dietortions; uni "strains of iiy seriousjehiirncter." Ilse', Whei'ithe bridge is opened l:uid theloef `standing,r up for ii considerable period of time during 'which a change of? temperiitiire glle'r of the leaves.

occurs, and causes alteration -of` the totiil len h of the bridge; there muy be`miicl1 d culty in effecting tlieproper lockingto- "Hence, ive have provided for heving the left-loaf with the toiver structure to which'it, is" pivotal, which iilso 'carries the counterlmhtneing devices, bodily movable by the bottom of the-tower structure :idiipt tti-msnen a. bed of'rollers tliiit. are supported on a `suitable foundation plate oigpletes fixed to the masonry of the pier, iv eiehy the variations of the totiil length, b t inperiitiire chan 7es, are provided for by t ree morfinent o the shoi-eeiid withjts pivots and mechanism for counterbolancing eon'neoted respectively oomcs necessary to iinldfriiising..

Also to insure accurate positioning of the leef` at.t be time of closing, also while o ii, i

we 'place on the masonry and under the tower when the bridge is opened nud the leaf Stands up, wmlf pressure may sntiiee' toinove the loaf uith its slip iortii'ig structure. ete.. midby rlosing the vnllves provided forptliiit` purpose, the liquid ressurehufll not equally oii the. opposite sidespf the pistons, pre-venu?` ing iiiiv4 movement.

In' ig. 7 we havefill-ustretoiilA the power nieehimisni for locking; the iidjiweiitriids ofthe lower chords together, itl lmiiig-iinder stood, of course. that in this type of bridge one of the leavesy is longitudine-ily.niov-i,ble n in order to compensatefor expansion end contraction" diie to temperature differences, i o. for other, purposes, sind it therefore bero'rid'o mechanism for drawing the .two eaves together. This.

*urs Ti, which 'a Fig. 1 2, und will lieinnfter be described'. rdvided Vwith a slot G gn-r said feather pin.` Th

'5 and' 18 forming or joists thatl ctrrl the floor of the bri ge. 'The leaves iilre loc ed together by means of pins, which pins are power-actuated and the power mechanism is also illustrated as located beneath the iloor of the bridge.

ln said FigJ1 7, 1, 1, indicatethe ends of the side plateswi;Y thel right handg'l chord are bearings 2 through; .tlis isle-1deins n* leid-*locking einem Vasising throukih' i and 2'? and passing shown in etailin in Jii 1.x 'l Th-limi 3 i9'. which e, fegitber in the beering i preventing the rotation o the thiit passes through K on a sleeije 9*' iin to Fi'ih'chfjs rigidly conjnected a geur Wheel 10. The sleeve 9N-'is 5 mounted in' bea-rings 11. The geuwheellO a side lower chord of Secured to the side` bearing und the.. platee lill, .l

is operated. by a pinion 12 oma. shaft-.13 driven by an electric motor 14,.. .The-shift i 13 extends over to the yother side chordof the brid e and has another pinionsimiliir 'to the pinion 12, for operating like1neohi-ion is@ shift is at .the'miiidie"affetti'.4

bridge is n bevel pi nion15, withy which gears a bevel wheel 17 mounted on n vertical 'heft 16 provided with ii squfired endforjth o ppliciition of af crank' lever for haidoperfution when re uireil, V i s y Front-the it Ve descri tion it'vrillbe `.obvious that by operati t e motor 14 je.v one or the other'directio'n t e pin 3 will be d'riiwn from or-inserted 1n the :membeis 'roe i Tn retracted position the end" ofpin 3f within l plates 'l Vsind ptdr of members fand isses 4through a b innddition to this, the pin 3 is'engalged ii member 18, shown in detail inV iflieise members aire carried Vby the left irii e chori s thereof being provided bearings 19 in which is ,jo-uriiiiled a shuftQhiivingA enlarged concentric ortions 211:0 increase' u Y is 'supported bearing 2.' Aszpreviously stated', tlie'pio 8. L e T10 i .,l I Eend leal,l the side pliites ltozbne of the the bearing surface or snidshiifnnd also provided with eeoentrics l 2v2 end A 23,v the.. ec? centric 22 being shifted 180 more, or lees, with respect tothe 'eccentric Qn these eeeentrics are mounted the en one'pointo lhsother point of su rs is provided b e 'throu h slots 2 in for.

` mem er 18,

' tween the side plates of one o gear 31 on a vertical shaft 32.

'side plates l". The shaft 20 extends to the other side of the brid e and operates mechanlsm which is a duplicate of that just described.

By rotating the shaft 2O after the insertion of the pm 43, the bars 5 are drawn to the left and placed under tension, while the bar 18, located between the two bars 5, is placed under compression by being thrust to the riht, and convex-sel before the in 3 is with rawn, the shaft 0 will be rota d in an op vosite direction, simultaneously movmg the-` are 5 and18 1n opposite directions to release the pin.

As will be seen from Fig. 13, it is not necessa to have thezpin 3 pass through the er eration in the end of the thrust and consequently we have simpy providedsI recess or seat 18 ln the end o said member for the pin 3, as clearly shown in said Fig. 13.

The mechanism for operatinf the shaft 20 is preferabl but not necessai'ifv, located be- 4the lo tudinal stringere of the left-hand leaf, an as illustrated in Fi 7 and 9, is between the side plates 116 o the middle Stringer. This mechanism consists of an electric motor 117 on whose rotor shaft is a pinion 11B meshing with a large ear wheel 119 on a shaft 120, supported in a'rngs 26 and 27. This aft carries a worm 2? that drives a worm wheel 29 on shaft 20. x

The shaft 120 also has secured thereto a miter'gear 30 that is engaged b a miter he shaft 32 is supported in bearings`33 and 34, and is provided with 'n collar 35 and set screw 36, the collar contacting with the bearing 34, thereby providing means for holding shaft 32 imposition, which, as shown, is provided with a squared upper end for the recaption of a hand crankto manually operate the mechanism, when necessary or desirable,

In order to insure the liftingr ci the same leaf in advance of the other every time the bridgi, is opened',V we provide means which comprises a stop or stops 37 on one leaf of the bridge, (prefere-bly' but not necessarily forming parte of the earrings 42 and 23 `for the pin 3,) and onlthe other bridge we provide acastin 38'securedto each side ofthe chord, an shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 15. 'Tn this casting secured b means of set screws 39 are held stops or nrs 40, 41, arranged to coperate with the stop 37 one stop, 40, with the top,

and the other 41 with thc bottoV of stop..`

' Jiithgpnii 37. By proyecting the stop 40 in of stop 37 the left hand leaf willihave tofbe raised Erst. By releasing itsV seteserew. 89 and shorir` .the $911140 bachV intok the lcantine 38, 41 engage'the undersdeef the stop ait will be necessary tolift theright-rhan 58 secured in hooks leef of. the l .mentof lever 56 and the l'nection 5,7, 58' and during Athe downward th d to p infringirA e pins, are rawn "projectingtliestop it-senato the Aleft @laying shaft- 54.

leaf first.

The bolt 25 also passes through these castings 38. If the lea is of light structure one of the castings 38 and the pertaining stops ma be omitted. 4

ile have found that it is not only necessary to draw and lock the lower chords together, but it isalso advisable to draw and lock the upper chords together, the u per chord lookin mechanism heilig operate by suitable mec enism, preferably by the same mechanism that controls the drawing tlV gether and locking of the lower chord.

0n the shaft 20 is a crank 42, which crank is connected by link 43 to one end of a twoarmed lever 44 mounted on a short shaft 45 in bearings 46 secured Vto the left hand leaf of the bridge. This twomed lever 44 is connected by rods 47 to similar lever 48 `keyed to a shaft 49 mounted in boerin? 50. This shaft 49 carries e crank errnll, iigs. v8 and 11. The crank arm is connected by a link 52 to a crank arm 553 keyed on a shaft 54. The shaft 54 has eccentric ends 55, Fig. 8 that project beyond the sides of the upperl chord and have secured to their outer ends levers 56, which levers 56 have arcuate' slots 57. Passing through the slots 57 are bolts 59 that are loesely journaled on thev eccentricextensions of shaft 54. These hooks engage pins 60 that project laterally from the epd of theupper chord of the right hand leaf.

The ends of the two upper chords are provided with interfittiig abutting castings 61 and 62, respectively.

The upper .chord locking mechanism is duplicated on the other 4side of the bridge.

The operation of the-lower chord locking mechanism simultaneously operates the upper chord locking mechanism.

To unlock from the position shown in Fig. 8, the shaft 20 rotates in the direction of the arrow; levers 44 and 4-8 are similarly rotated from said shaft, and thereby causeiever 51 to rock to the left. The slotted end of lever 56 rises without affecting the hook 59, but" duringthis period the eccentric portions 5 5 .the hoelrtmvmdy the of the shaft 54,1n'ove light snfciently tn en'nble itl to bey readil li ted ci? its gin 60.; then the end ofslotl engees the y lt 58 onfseid'hook and lifts it of its pin.

The interfitting abutting castings 61 and tom'of which, 64, is a continuation of the face of a projecting portion 65. The sides l, of the rcntrant' ortion 63 are inclined toi receive the comp ementary projecting por` tion 65, which also has inclin sides, or in other words, is wedge-shaped. The lcastings g `also have'inclined end faces making anan 'Ysitely to the lates 66.

with the face 64, the an lar relation being more clearly shown in 8.

The wedge-shaped portions 63 and 65 will cause the endso the two leavesto come to'- gether on' center, should the end of one be slightly displaced laterally with respect to the other.

4 The lower chord is also provided with v/sin between the metal of the piping an 4 cylinders are connected to two main lines of pipe, ,and 91, cross-connected so as to control `the liow of motive fluid through thel to open under 500 pounds ressure, moreor ,A

less, depending upon the suie and weight of the -truss to be moved;` These 'relief valves discharge 'bypips 96 and 97 into areservoir 98 common to valves take care of thefdiierence of ex ali:-

centering devices, comprising curved plates, li uid,"due to temperature Chan BS.

66 projecting above and below the members or plates used in building up this clford.

On the `bars 5, Figs 12 and 14,ac.guide lugs 67, said lugs ,ha'vi sides curved o por'lliese guide lugls y dependin anges 67ethrough whic bolts 69 t at connect the two ars In order to take care of the expansion and contraction due to temperature changes, the tower structure carrying one of the leaves of the bridge, at its pier end is mounted on rollers 68 and 68. The rollers 68 are vplaced between ufoundation plate 69 supported o n a pier, or masonry 70, andthe base of tower structure 71 supporting the vtrunnion 72 on which the leafturns. n The bridge leaves are' o ened and closed RSS by any well'known mechanism, from the operators house 81, Fig. 2.

In order attimes to compensate for tcmpcraturerhangcs, or relieve binding or jamming of theA locking mechanism, the` whole left hand leaf of the bridge with the su portinguwer stru ureiis moved 'on t e rollers Qilinders 2 and 82', one at each side behin the longitudinally movable bridge/leaf. I

TheseY cylinders contain aiiston 83, Figi' 4, whi his directly connecte by piston rm 84; to a pin 85' heldin gusset plates 86 forming part of thc tower structure, it being immaterial how or where the piston is connected to said structureA so long as longitudine] motion can be Vimparted thereto by the action of a pressure' medium orliquid on the piston. 1

The operative connections for these cylinders are shown in Fiv s. 5 and 6. The head ends of these cylln ers are connected ys together by apipe- 87 and the back ends of the cylinders` are also connected together by a pipe 88,A Fig. 5, there being appro riante -hand valves 89 to disconnect either cy indar from the fluid system for repairing the piston packing or fory other purposes. These three-way 5 toget er.

yot r he reservoir connects by pipe t ted b v alve, 101, which valve is connec 1 103 to plpcpill Y A Branch ipb 104: between pipes 100 and 90 and branc j ipe' 105 between ipes 101 and 91 contain c eck valves 106 ang 107 to automatically sup 1y liquid from reservoir 98 to piping and cy 'nders to compensate for contraction in volume ofi the liquid due to temperature chan es.

There is av our-wayzvalve 108 connected .by pipe 109,'tb pi e 91 and by pipe 110 to'4 pipe 90..'This va ve 108 also connects by pi 111 to the discharge side of a handor 'When r.ourvway' valve 108 is, elosedand three-way valve 191 is'v open, the bridge is 'closcdand locked, and o en for tl'aiic, and the liquid, preferably o! is free to be displaced hy f e pistons 83 so that .expansion and contraction of the span can take place. Before lifting the lea-f for passage of river traiiic, valves 101 and 108 must be closed.

pum 113, and by pipe A112. to the inlet sol 102 pipe 90 and by pipe ioo los

Should there he any considerable change of temperature whilel the span is open it may become necessary for the operator to shift or move thc movable left hand leaf.

, .Four-way valve 108 when turned one way connects pipes 110 and 111` and 109 and 112,

so thatoil maybe pumpedby the puinpto,

` lnders through pipes 88 'and 90, the oil `from the: front the back endsof cy` u ends ofthe cylinders pussing'through'pi es.87,*91, 109, 112, either Vwho] y or partial y to the pump 113, as lndicated` in v:fully arrows Fig. '6.

hen necessary, pai-tof the oil may ass f1 ln pipes 112, 114, to reservoir 98. -hen reversed, the direction of flow of oil to the cylinders is reversed, as indi cated in half arrows, Fi Y. 6.

Valves 89 may be Auseto move the piston on one side of the leaf only, when necessary to swing the leaf laterally; those adjacent one cylinder when closed, allow the other to operate. The pressure gages enable the operator to know what pressure is being exerted by the pump.

The coperation of the individual elements constituting our improvements in baseule bridges has been described, but the general operation will be follows:

First, close cylinder valves 101 and 108 to hold the bridge; the lower chord lock and thel upper chord lock are then simultaneously operated to relieve the stress on the respective locking members and raise the upper chord hooks. The lower chord pin, being operated from a separate motor, is then Withdrawn, and the leaves lifted in` their proper order. Upon excessive temperature changes between the time of openingr and closing the brf valve 108 ldge, the left hand leaf may be shifted a fraction of an inch, more or less, by the fluid pressure to permit the leaves to properly lock at the middle of the span, when lowered.

l. In a bascule bridge, the combination with two pivoted. leaves and their counterweight structure, of mechanism for impart* ing endwise movement to the movable leaf of the bridge, and its counter-'weighting structure.

2. In a bascule bridge, the combination with a pivcted leaf of the bridge having trusses and counterweight structure con` neeted to said trusses; and rollers on which said structure and leaf are supported of means to simultaneously or separately move said trusses.

3. In,l bascule bridge, the combination with a voted leaf of the bridge having trusses, means to pivotally su port the trusses, and means to counterwei lit theleaf ofa fluid motor device for eac truss and means to separately or simultaneously operate the motor devices to move the leaf or either truss either forward or backward.

4. In a bascule bridge, the combination with a pivoted leaf of the bridge havin trusses, means to p-ivotally support 'sai trusses at one end, and a counterbalemce mechanism on said supporting means, of a hydraulic cylinder and piston adjacent cach truss, the piston thereof' directly connected to the supporting means, rollers on which said supporting means is mounted, and

hydraulic mechanism ifor operatin the pis tons simultaneously or indepen ently in either direction.

5. In a bascule bridge, the combination with a pivoted leaf having trusses, supporting means for the pivoted ends of the trusses, a parallelogram for the trusses having its members pivoted together, one of said members forming an element of the pertaining truss, and a counter-weight connected to the parallelogram of means for bodily moving all of the aforesaid structure.

6. In a bascule bridge, the combination with one leaf thereof and its counterweight Structures, of moving means therefor com prising a cylinder and piston connected to each truss of a leaf, an oil reservoir, a pum connected to said reservoir under all conditions and also connected to said cylinders, a valve to direct oil from the pump to one or the other end of said cylinders while connecting the opposite ends of said cylinders with said pump.

7. In a bascule bridge, the combination with a leaf thereof and its eounterweight structure of moving means therefor comprising a cylinder and a piston connected to cach side truss of the leaf, an oil reservoir, line pipes connecting both ends of said cylinders with said` reservoir, check valves between said reservoir and line pipes to compensate for diminution in volume 1n said line pipes, relief valves between said pi es and reservoir, a Dump connected to both line pipes and the reservoir, and a valve controlding.,r the direction of fluid from the pump to either line pipe.

8. In a bascule bridge, the combination with a pivoted and laterally movable leaf, a counterweight for said leaf, a folding parallelogram between the trusses of said leaf and counterweight, of means to bodily move the leaf and counterweight longitudinelly and to swing the leaf laterally.

9. In a bascule bridge. the combination with a pivoted leaf, means coperating with said leaf to permit expansion and contraction of the bridge, nally move the trusses of said leaf independ ently or simultaneously on said expansion means.

In testimony that We claim the foregoing as our invention, we have signed' our names inprescnce of tuo subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses:

Guo. W. Passons, A. F. LEEDS.

of means to longitudi 

